Parallels
by Hugh-Jainus
Summary: Yaoyorozu Momo, the well-off and sheltered hero-in-training, has her life turned upside down when a new student comes to class 1-A. In so many ways, the two couldn't be more different. Their mannerisms, their upbringings, you name it. How much does one's situation define who they are? How can two people with such different, yet fully intertwined lives find a way to get along?
1. New Kid on the Block

Hey guys! I had this sort of idea for a while and I finally got around to putting it into words. This is my first official BNHA fanfic and I've been in love with the series from the moment I started it. I really love writing and have so many ideas, but this is my first big project. I wanna update as much and as soon as possible but a full-time student schedule can get hectic at times, so I'll do my best.

I don't own any part of BNHA or any references I make. Hope you enjoy the read. Please rate and review!

Cross-posted from AO3

* * *

As the morning bell rang for homeroom, the students of class 1-A scurried to their seats in hopes of avoiding another tongue-lashing from their no-nonsense teacher, Aizawa-Sensei. Some of the students were catching up with each other after going home to their families on the weekend, while others were merely chatting idly before class began.

Yaoyorozu Momo calmly sat in her seat as she waited for class to begin, hands neatly folded atop her desk and eyes forward towards the blackboard. It seemed like it would be just another day for the young heroine in the making. Her morning started off as mundane and regular as usual; She woke up to her own circadian rhythm, spent her usual amount of time getting ready in the morning, and tried her best to keep her rambunctious classmates in check as they prepared for the day. After the provisional licence exam was completed, the group at UA seemed to hit a slump in terms of excitement happening around them. In all fairness, the class had dealt with a somewhat unreasonable level of conflict throughout their times at the hero school so far, even by hero's standards. It was only right that there would be lulls in the action, but that didn't mean it was any less excruciatingly lame to sit through.

As Iida Tenya, Class Rep and Momo's partner in class bureaucracy tried his best to keep everyone in their seats and quietly prepared for homeroom to begin, Aizawa-Sensei slithered into the room in his usual attire in his large yellow sleeping bag. His authoritative aura immediately had its effect as the room went silent as he made his way up to his podium at the front of the room to make his daily announcements.

"Good morning, class." The scruffy hero lazily drawled out, "Today I have an important announcement for you all,"

The entire class leant forward in anticipation at what this announcement was. This was just what the class needed to kickstart some new excitement.

"As you may or may not have noticed, Mineta is missing from the class today. As it turns out, he has decided that the hero course is no longer the path that he wishes to follow. He has transferred out of the hero program and is now in general studies."

Aizawa paused for a moment to let the information sink in. His expression remained unchanged, but he internally sweatdropped ever so slightly at the lack of surprise of his class.

"So, he was missing. I didn't even notice." Shoji said. "In all honesty, I was not entirely certain how long he would remain in the hero course. He did not exactly possess the passion for heroics as one would expect."

"I must concur, it was only a matter of time," Tokoyami added.

The reaction from the female population in the class was one akin to relief, as they were now free from Mineta's extremely perverted agenda. Momo sighed to herself. She no longer had to sit next to that perverted pig and as far as she was concerned, it was good riddance to him.

As the rest of the class murmured amongst themselves about their ball-headed acquaintance's departure, Midoriya's hand shot up.

"Excuse me, Sensei. If Mineta-kun is no longer in the hero course, does that mean we will be getting a new student to replace him?". The class quieted down upon hearing this question, now all interested in hearing whether they would be joined by a new hero in training.

Aizawa sluggishly shuffled the papers on his podium and shrugged, "Pretty much. That was going to be my next announcement. Please welcome the newest student of class 1-A, Matsuo Ryuusei. Get to know him and integrate him into the class while I take a nap." As Aizawa slumped onto the floor for his midmorning nap, the door the classroom opened to reveal 1-A's newest student. All eyes were on the young man as he slowly walked into the room and stopped at the front of the class. He was a tall individual, standing about as tall as Iida, with broad shoulders and a somewhat muscular frame. He ran a hand through his short and spiky black hair with his other hand in his pocket, giving the class a small smile. As Momo eyed the newest addition to her class, she could not help but notice that he was quite handsome. 'He must also be a capable hero if he was able to join the class at this stage.'

"Hey everyone, I'm Matsuo Ryuusei. You guys can call me Ryuu, happy to meet ya. I hope we can all get along." He then tried to walk to his new seat in the back of the room before he was abruptly stopped by Iida who had suddenly appeared in front of him with a large grin on his face and waving his arm in his signature chopping motion.

"Greetings, Matsuo-kun! My name is Iida Tenya, and I am 1-A's Class Representative! It is an honour to have you join our class and I'm sure we would all appreciate if we could learn more about you to help integrate you into our class and become great comrades!" He said with his usual theatrics and formality.

Ryuu sweatdropped at Iida's behaviour, "Uhh yeah I guess that's cool. But you ain't gotta talk all like that man, it's not that serious. And call me Ryuu, I ain't really down for all that formal stuff."

Ryuu's accent and form of speech caught a few by surprise, and Ashido was the one to voice the general curiosity, "Where's your accent from, Ryuu?"

Ryuu turned to the pink acid-user with a friendly smile, "Oh yeah I get that a lot. I'm from Kabukicho over in Shinjuku prefecture. Honestly, I'm still having trouble getting used to how nice and fancy this whole place is."

Momo was extremely caught off guard by this, as Kabukicho was notorious as being one of the worst areas in all of Japan, full of crime and poverty. It was very rare for people to come from a place like that and become very successful in their lives, usually turning to crime to make ends meet. Her parents had told her about certain areas like that and that she should not associate with those kinds of people whatsoever. In her father's words, they were nothing but 'hoodlums' and 'thugs'. Momo was curious to find out exactly how someone with such a background could end up at one of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan.

Uraraka bounced up and down in front of Ryuu's desk "So, why don't you tell us more about yourself, Ryuu? We'd love to learn more about you." She beamed, getting several voices of agreement from her classmates.

Ryuu, now sitting at his assigned seat between Momo and Midoriya, shrugged in compliance. "Sure, I guess that's pretty fair. I grew up in the slums in Kabu, everyone was pretty much in the same situation, we was all poor and barely scratched by if we did at all. The hoods were pretty much all run by gangs and you couldn't really go anywhere without running into some kinda crime, whether it be dope dealing, pimping, or something like that. Almost everyone I knew as a kid is either dead, in jail, or well on their way to one of the two. No one from where I came from had anything given to us, we had to fight for everything or someone else who wanted it more would get it. My old man got caught up in some Yakuza business and ended up getting killed when I was 7, so I had to start providing for my family. We did the best we could, my moms worked 2 jobs, I worked after school as much as I could while still staying at the top of my class so I could make it out the hood to be a hero. I want to make a real difference and give back to places like where I grew up cause I know exactly what they going through and I have the power to make a difference. I promised my mama I'd make things better for everyone back in Kabu, and once I become a pro hero, that's the first thing I'm gonna do."

At this point, the room was deathly silent, everyone taking in the story that they just heard, some like Ashido and Hagakure brought to tears as they learned of the struggles of their new classmate. Everyone else wore solemn expressions, no one daring to break the silence that had overcome the room.

Ryuu chuckled lightly to help the mood, "Heh sorry about that, I'm pretty sure you meant like personal interests and my quirk and stuff, right?" Getting nods from several people, he decided the mood had lightened enough and he carried on, "Well first off, my quirk is called 'Aura'. I can generate a malleable energy from my body that can become basically anything I want it to be. I can make weapons like swords or staffs, shoot the energy like a gun, and I can even coat my body in it to enhance my strength and speed. The only real hindrance is how tired I am, but I try to stay in pretty good shape to help deal with that." Ryuu received resounding excitement from the rest of the class at his amazing quirk.

"Wow, that's such an awesome quirk, Ryuu! You must be super strong, man! You are so MANLY!" Kirishima yelled while pumping his fist in the air. Many other students also voiced how impressed they were with Ryuu's quirk before they were overcome by Midoriya's infamous mumbling as his mind ran wild about the so-called 'Aura'.

"Such a quirk could have almost infinite applications in both combat and non-combat situations. With the ability to create both melee weapons and projectiles, Matsuo-kun can theoretically fight on par with any opponent, and he can even enhance his strength and speed with his aura. Given the nature of it quirk it can be probable to assume that the strength of his aura relates to his physical energy or something of the sort and based on looking at him he seems to be in very good physical shape, so his quirk could probably be used for long periods of time, making him even more deadly in combat…" Izuku was pulled away from Ryuu by an apologetic looking Iida as he continued his rambling.

Momo stared at Ryuu, who was being bombarded by many of their classmates asking him about his quirk. She was very right in her previous assumptions that Ryuu must have been very capable, and now that she was sitting right next to him, she could feel the power and charisma that he exuded. A slight blush came to her face as a warmth ran through her body, and Momo looked away to hide it from her new peer. 'I don't know why I'm feeling like this right now. This has never happened before…'. Momo pondered the thought for a moment. They have only just met and have yet to be properly introduced, how could she be so forward as to say she has already begun to think of him so fondly? Sure, he seemed to just ooze confidence and a strong set of morals, and he was definitely very good looking, but they knew next to nothing about each other. As vice-rep, it was her duty to become more acquainted with the new student to be able to aid him whenever needed, so she was only doing her job by finding out more about him and spending more time with him. It's not like there was an underlying motive to becoming close with him and spending time with him. She was just doing her job and vice-rep and future hero. Rapport and trust building. That was all she wanted to get out of it…right?

* * *

As the school day wore on, Momo found it harder and harder to remain focused on any lessons as her mind continued to wander over to her new classmate sitting directly in front of her. She felt quite relieved that she could stare at him all day without him being able to notice due to his back being turned, but at the same time, Momo was afraid that losing focus like this on a consistent basis would be nothing but detrimental in the long run. From what she could tell, Ryuu was an excellent student, keeping up with the lessons with ease and showing a tremendous understanding of many different subjects in the process. It came as a surprise that despite his casual and somewhat vulgar way of speech, Ryuu seemed to be very intelligent and verbose when he wanted to be.

When lunch came around, Momo decided to take it upon herself to take initiative to properly welcome Ryuu to their class and extend an olive branch to him. That was it. No other reason whatsoever.

As Present-Mic finished his lesson and the lunch bell rang, Momo quickly packed her things and steeled herself, 'It's now or never!' She thought. She slowly reached out to tap on Ryuu's shoulder with her eyes clenched shut. With her eyes clenched shut, she never noticed Ryuu turning around to put his notebook into his school bag, and Momo ended up putting her finger right onto Ryuu's lips. Her eyes shot open and she went scarlet red in the face as she shot her hand back to her person.

"I-I am so sorry Matsuo-san! I did not mean to poke you in the face, please forgive me!" Momo rambled out. She did her best to repress the thoughts of how his lips felt on her fingertip, 'They're…very soft. A lot softer than I would have imagined…'.

Ryuu had an amused and slightly confused expression on his face, "Don't worry about it, Yaoyoruzu. And I thought I said to call me Ryuu, we are going to be classmates, after all, you don't gotta be so formal."

The dark-haired girl bashfully rubbed her arm and looked away, "W-well, in that case, it would be fine for you to call me Momo. I wouldn't mind if we greeted each other on a first name basis. As you said, we will be seeing each other a lot for the foreseeable future." Momo internally cursed herself for stuttering and being unable to make consistent eye-contact with her new peer.

"I guess it would only be fair. Nice to properly meet you Momo," Ryuu said with a warm smile that brought the blush back to Momo's face. "Now was there a reason that you was poking me in the face, or is this just something I should expect from now on?"

Momo's blush deepened in embarrassment at being called out for what she did, "Well, n-no actually, I intended to ask you if you had already made plans for lunch, and if not I was curious if you'd be willing to join myself and some of our other classmates to eat and get to know each other a little better.

"That sounds great, Momo. I'd love to." Ryuu replied with a smile, getting to his seat after collecting his things. "Lead the way."

* * *

Momo sat with Ryuu between herself and Kendo Itsuka of class 1-B, with Jiro, Asui, Ashido and Uraraka sitting across from them in the UA cafeteria. The group of girls welcomed the new student with open arms and were happy to be able to get to know him a little bit better.

"Wow, so you study martial arts too? That's awesome! I have a black belt in karate, myself." Kendo proudly said, pointing a thumb to her chest.

Ryuu sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "That's real impressive Kendo. I kinda realized that street-brawling wasn't the best way to fight all the time, especially against experienced fighters, so I took up Kung-Fu and Jiu-Jitsu in my spare time as a part of my hero training. With studying to get into UA, working, and training, I didn't really have all that much free time, so I figured why not pick up hobbies that benefit me long term as a hero, two birds with one stone. That's what I tell myself anyway." He finished with a chuckle.

"Ryuu-chan, you are a very impressive person. I am glad that we will become heroes together." Asui noted with her index finger on her chin.

"Likewise, Tsu-chan!" Ryuu replied with a wide grin and a thumb up. Everyone else at the table was slightly surprised to see the usually stoic Tsuyu put on a moderately warm grin, but they supposed Ryuu just seemed to have that effect on people.

Ashido pouted, "No fair, now there's another super awesome person in our class fighting for the top spot! Between Todoroki, Midori, Iida, Explodey, Yao-Momo, and now Ryuu-kun, how is anyone else supposed to keep up?! Not to mention, Ryuu has taken the top spot as the new hottest boy in the class!" The pink-skinned girl immediately slapped her hands over her mouth has a shade of lilac dusted her cheeks and her eyes shot over to the boy in question.

Ryuu burst out laughing at Mina's blatant outburst, "Why thank you, Mina! That's nice of you to say. But come on, y'all gotta be pretty hard hitters too if you already been at UA, no? Give yourself more credit than that, girl."

"Damn humble too" Jiro muttered under her breathe.

"I must say, Ryuu-kun" Momo interjected, "I was also very impressed with your display of knowledge throughout all of the lessons this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of your breadth of knowledge and ability to communicate your thoughts."

Ryuu's smile dropped to a neutral expression and he turned to face Momo, "You were pleasantly surprised, huh? Wanna tell me exactly what you mean by that?"

The rest of the table grew slightly nervous at Ryuu's expression and tone of voice, and they all knew that what Momo said next would be a deciding factor in the new boy's first impression of her.

"W-well you see…It's just that you're… I just meant that…"

Ryuu put a hand up, "Let me finish that for you, Momo. You were surprised by my intellect and the fact that I could speak in a certain manner despite where I grew up and the circumstances of my upbringing correct? You were surprised that some hoodlum nobody from the slums of Kabukicho somehow got into the hero course at UA and seems like he can get somewhere in life? Is that about accurate?" Silence from the onyx-haired girl was his only reply. "I guess this is to be expected, how could I even think to breathe the same air as the Yaoyorozu Momo, heiress to the billionaire Yaoyorozu corporation? I am just a thug from the hood who has no business speaking in complex sentences or knowing anything about anything, right?" Ryuu then stood up from his seat, "Excuse me, everyone, I've lost my appetite. Oh, I'm sorry what am I thinking," He turned to Momo, "I ain't feel like eatin' nothing no mo', I'm finna bounce just now. Is that more on the nose, Momo?" he spoke matter-of-factly before walking out of the cafeteria.

The table was deathly silent all around, all eyes on the retreating form of Ryuu until he rounded the corner out of sight when everyone's gaze shifted towards the now guilty looking Momo.

"Yao-Momo! Not cool, girlfriend! How can you judge Ryuu-kun like that?" Ashido exclaimed. Next to her, Tsui had the same blank expression on her face except with a slight frown, and Uraraka had a deep scowl painting her visage.

"I can't believe you, Momo! Just because he grew up with a family that wasn't filthy rich and not from the best place doesn't mean you know everything about him. Not everyone got to grow up with a silver spoon in their mouth like you, princess." Uraraka said in an uncharacteristically hateful tone before storming away from the cafeteria herself.

Momo stared at where the two had just left and hung her head in shame as she had now deeply insulted two people, with Kendo rubbing her back sympathetically. From the other side of the table, Ashido and Jiro sighed while Asui kept her eyes fixed on the offender. "I'm quite surprised Momo-chan. For someone with such usual tact and gracefulness, that was a very bad thing to say about Ryuu-chan. I wonder if how long he will be angry with you."

After a few minutes, Kendo chuckled awkwardly to try and diffuse the situation, "Well, uh…I guess on the bright side it still could be worse? Heh, it's not like you sit next to him in class or anything right?" Seeing Momo sink further down with a rain cloud over her head was not a good sign, "Oh…well shit."

* * *

Happening to walk by the lunch table and witnessing the entire ordeal between Momo and Ryuu, Bakugo Katsuki shook his head with an angry pout, "What a fucking asshole ponytail is for saying that shit to him. Some people have no fucking manners." he spat out before catching sight of an all too familiar head of emerald-green hair, "DEKU, COME BACK HERE YOU SHITTY NERD! I'LL KILL YOU!" he exclaimed before running after the one-for-all inheritor.


	2. Bad Company

Hey everyone, back again for chapter 2! Before you read this next chapter, I'm just gonna preface the comment/observation that many of you will have about what is gonna happen. I am well aware of the fact, it is all part of the story, don't you fret. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then I guess you gotta read the chapter.

As always, enjoy!

* * *

The rest of Momo's afternoon was far from ideal. She tried to talk to Ryuu several times to make amends for her behaviour, but she was coldly brushed aside each time. It gave her a few moments to reflect on exactly how she had offended and insulted her new classmate, and if she was to be honest, she felt thoroughly disgusted with herself. Momo had never agreed with many of the narrow-minded views that her parents often voiced, and she always tried her best to not judge people before she got the opportunity to know them on a personal level. Was she less accepting of people than she thought? She had no idea where her words at lunch came from…She must have seemed like such an ignorant bitch. The words sort of just came out without her thinking much about it. She immediately saw the impact it had on Ryuu and she understood how insensitive she was being to both Ryuu and consequently Uraraka. She needed to re-evaluate her principles and find a way to make things right. The question now was, how?

Momo unconsciously made her way through the Heights Alliance common room and towards the kitchen. As she pulled a light snack out of the fridge, her mind ran rampant on how she could make it up to Ryuu and re-establish their relationship with one another. As far as she could remember, Momo had never offended someone to the degree as she had Ryuu, so she was not entirely sure how to go about solving her problem. It certainly did not help that they only met a few hours before, so she did not know his personality well enough. Sighing to herself, Momo plopped down into one of the seats by the kitchen's island and took a bite out of her apple. Suddenly hearing approaching footsteps, Momo quickly swallowed her mouthful and turned towards the entryway expectantly.

"Man, Ryuu you're an alright guy, bro! We gotta arm-wrestle again sometime, the only person who could ever beat me was Bakugo, and you even beat _him_!" said the voice of Kirishima as he walked into the kitchen.

"SHUT UP, SHITTY HAIR! Why do you keep bringing it up?!" Bakugo angrily yelled a few steps behind him, "And don't think you are some kind of hot shit, new guy!"

"Ha! Don't be hatin' on me cause I whooped ya ass, boy. Name the time and place and I'll school you again." Momo gulped as she heard Ryuu's voice reply to Bakugo and she suddenly grew very nervous at possibly interacting with the dark-haired boy again.

As Ryuu entered the kitchen he caught sight of Momo and his smile immediately dropped into an unamused glare. Momo wrung her hands and tentatively approached the trio with an anxious grin, "H-hello, Ryuu. How are you enjoying UA so far?" Ryuu's expression remained unchanged, and Momo began to internally squirm under his icy glare.

The aura-quirk user turned to his male companions, "You know what guys, I'll catch you later. I would hate to taint the air with my ghetto ass existence. Don't worry Yaoyorozu, I'm not carrying any weapons or illegal contraband." He said before bumping fists with Kirishima and disappearing out of the room.

Bakugo scowled at Momo before flipping her off and stomping past her, while Kirishima remained rooted in his spot with a disappointed look directed at the creation-quirk wielder. "Yao-Momo, I thought you would know better than to judge Ryuu as some kinda thug before you got to know him just because of where he's from. So unmanly." He said with a shake of his head before taking his leave.

Momo found herself all alone once more, severely more upset with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She sniffled a few times before sitting back down and laying her head on the island. Her sulking was interrupted by Jiro coming into the kitchen searching for a drink.

Closing the fridge, Jiro noticed Momo's state and took her headphones off. "Oh, Yao-Momo, what's up? Everything okay?" Her concern grew when she noticed Momo's sad expression and she quickly went to her side to console her friend. "Hey, hey, what's the matter?"

Momo sniffled and told Jiro what had just transpired, with the rocker-girl listening intently to absorb all the information. After Momo was finished, Jiro sighed heavily as she rubbed her good friend's back supportively.

"Man, Momo you really messed up huh? Honestly, there's not much you can do right now. You just met the guy and you made a really bad first impression. First impressions are hard to shake, so I think the only thing you can really do right now is give him some time to cool off. Get a feel of his personality a bit more and let him get more comfortable here and maybe then you can find a way to make it up to him."

Momo sighed in resignation, "You're probably right about that, Kyoka-chan. I'm just so appalled at myself. I have no idea where that came from today at lunch, and I feel so guilty about it. Someone as admirable and hard-working as Ryuu does not need any extra judgement from anyone. I know this will weigh on my conscience, but I suppose all I can do is give Ryuu some space."

Jiro nodded in agreement and patted Momo on the shoulder, "He seems like a genuinely good guy, so he'll probably cool down sooner or later. Once he gets to know the real you how could he stay mad, right?" The onyx-haired beauty perked up at the compliment and put on a slightly more determined expression. "Oh uh…by the way, you were serious about having a thing for him, right? Like dibs and everything? Cause y'know… he's super hunky and sweet and kind and charismatic and…." Jiro began.

"J-J-Jiro!" Momo exclaimed with a red face, stopping her friend from continuing, "Don't say such embarrassing things…I must make amends with Ryuu before I can even begin to think of…that…"

Jiro chuckled amusedly, "That pretty much screams yes. Best of luck!" The girl said before hopping to her feet and walking off, leaving a tomato-faced Momo alone to stew in her embarrassment.

* * *

A few days had passed and not much had improved for Momo in terms of getting back into Ryuu's good graces. He continued to treat her with slight indifference and it was clear that he was still not over her words to him in the cafeteria. Momo made sure to give him his space and would only try to greet him when they ran into each other instead of trying to push her luck.

It quickly became abundantly clear to the class of 1-A that Ryuu was a legitimate candidate for top student in the class, and he repeatedly achieved the top scores in every quiz or test they received. On this day, however, there was the opportunity for him to showcase his skills from a practical standpoint, as there was a scheduled quirk training session with Cementoss after lunch. Almost the entire class was very excited to see their new classmate in action for the first time and to see the capabilities of his amazingly versatile quirk.

As the entirety of class 1-A stood in line inside the Training Dining Land, they eagerly waited for the arrival of Ryuu to see exactly what he was capable of. As if on cue, the door from the locker room opened and out he walked, donned in his hero costume consisting of a black long-sleeved shirt that clung tightly to his muscled frame, and a pair of dark green cargo pants with several pockets up the sides. On his feet, Ryuu wore black boots with some sort of metal orifice on each heel, and he wore dark green gloves with metal knuckles. To finish his costume off, he had a blue bandana tied around his left bicep. All in all, he looked intimidating and very cool.

As Ryuu coolly walked up to the rest of the class, not visibly showing any reaction to the looks of awe he received from his peers or the catcalls from Mina and Toru, he stopped before Aizawa to receive instruction on how he was to be assessed.

"Alright, Matsuo we need to get a feel of your quirk and combat ability, so you are going to go through a few tests so that we can see where you stand, understood?" Getting a nod, the scruffy sensei continued, "Now for your assessment, you are going to spar with Todoroki," The class began murmuring in excitement about one of the strongest people in the class sparring with the new kid.

"Then Bakugo,"

Everyone grew silent in surprise at their sensei's statement.

"Then finally Midoriya."

No one in the room made a sound as most stood wide-eyed at what Ryuu had to do in his assessment. Before anyone could yell in shock, they all heard roaring laughter coming from next to them. The members of class 1-A turned to see Ryuu doubled over holding his stomach in laughter. After a few minutes, Ryuu collected himself and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Oh man, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Aizawa-Sensei you know how to get a guy fired up, a gauntlet right off the bat? Let's get this shit!"

Most of the class was taken aback by Ryuu's excitement (barring Kirishima and Iida who thought it to be 'manly as hell' and 'extremely impressive' respectively) before Todoroki shrugged and made his way to across Ryuu to prepare for the first spar.

As soon as Aizawa signalled for the match to begin, the two boys spent a few moments staring each other down, neither one wanting to make the first move to get a feel for their opponent. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Ryuu disappeared in a blue flash and appeared mere inches before Todoroki with a glowing blue-fist cocked back ready to punch him into next week. Thanks to his battle-hardened reflexes, the son of Endeavour was just barely able to dodge the blow and he leapt back on a patch of ice to gain some distance from his opponent. As soon as he blinked, Ryuu disappeared in another flash of blue and Shoto heard a faint humming noise and he looked up to see the aura-user zooming towards him with both palms glowing blue. Instinctively, the heterochromatic boy thrust his left-hand upward and fire a huge wave of flames to stop the onslaught that was about to reach him.

The other students shielded their eyes from the bright light produced from the flames, and as the smoke cleared, they were shocked to see a completely unscathed Ryuu holding a stunned Todoroki by the collar with one hand and a glowing blue palm inches away from his face.

Aizawa cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention, "That's enough. Matsuo clearly has the advantage in this position. He wins the first match."

Ryuu had a proud grin on his face as he released the half-hot half-cold boy. "Not bad, man. You aight?"

Todoroki merely stood there stunned, "H-how…"

"Remember I can enhance my speed and strength with my aura, and I can also coat my body with it to protect myself from damage. Better luck next time." Ryuu said before leaping back to his original spot and cracked his knuckles, "Aight Bakugo come catch your ass beating too! I'm pretty warmed up now."

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU SHITTY GLOWSTICK BASTARD?! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Bakugo roared as he rocketed towards Ryuu using his explosions to propel him forward. Aizawa shrugged and merely let them begin, they looked ready enough.

As soon as Bakugo reached Ryuu, his eyes widened when the Kabukicho native vanished once more and reappeared at his blindside to rock him in the cheek with a thundering punch. Bakugo flew back into one of the cement pillars in the arena with a resounding crash. As he slowly pulled himself out of the human-sized crater, Bakugo grit his teeth in anger before he was surprised once more when Ryuu suddenly appeared directly in front of him and began laying into the explosion-quirk user with repeated haymakers. After about 10 punches, Ryuu grabbed Katsuki by the face and flung him towards Aizawa.

The short-tempered teen fell unceremoniously at Eraser-Head's feet in a beaten heap, slightly twitching in pain every few moments. The teacher sweatdropped at how badly the boy was beaten and he turned back to the rest of his class, all who were as white as sheets to see their crazed classmate get destroyed like that. Everyone shrunk behind Izuku and pushed him forward towards Ryuu, who was standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest.

The emerald haired-boy quaked in fear as he stared at the monster before him. 'He beat Todoroki-kun and Kacchan without even trying! He's gonna kill me!'

Aizawa signalled for them to begin and Midoriya gulped before activating One-For-All throughout his body and leapt towards Ryuu with a battle cry. Izuku reared his foot back and swung with all he had and was surprised to feel it connect. He opened his eyes and almost lost his lunch when he saw Ryuu standing firm and holding his glowing leg with his own hand glowing blue. The tall boy grinned evilly as he held his other hand out in the form of a sideways oriented finger pistol and the tip of his index finger glowing bright blue. Izuku's eyes widened before he was blasted in the face with a beam of aura and was propelled across the facility and landed unconscious on the ground, his face comically covered in soot and smoke emanating from his hair.

Every other student had their jaws on the ground as they saw the three strongest students in the class get taken care of with ease by their new peer and they turned to look at said boy who was using his aura quirk to levitate above the ground in a cross-legged position.

"What a monster, Ryuu is freakin' insane! His quirk is unfairly strong!"

"He beat the shit out of all three of them like it was nothing! I guess we have a new top dog in the class"

Momo stood there, mouth agape and eyes as wide as saucers. This boy…this monster…absolutely destroyed three elite heroes-in-training as if they were mere insects. As she stared at Ryuu she could feel the familiar warmth spreading across her chest and face once more. Everything about him was…amazing. His morals, his skills as a hero…She instinctively put a hand over her chest as she felt her rapid heartbeat thumping in her chest. Seeing him in action took her breath away and she once again chastised herself for starting off on such a wrong foot with him. She needed to calm her idolization of him if she hoped to make any sort of appeal to his forgiveness that seemed even remotely genuine. Maybe she could call in for some reinforcements to help her…

* * *

Putting his earphones in and shuffling through his Spotify playlist, he came upon one of his favourite songs and put the volume on full blast. _Lil' Wayne's_ new album _Tha Carter V_ was a banger, to say the least, and _Let It Fly_ never failed to get Ryuu's head rocking.

As he made his way out the doors and back towards _Heights Alliance_ , his phone buzzed to notify that he received a text message. Ryuu swiped his phone open and saw that it was from Midoriya.

 _Hello Matsuo-kun! Some classmates and I were planning on watching the quirk-sketball game on tv tonight. The Tokyo Raptors are playing against the Kobe Bryants. Do you want to join us?_

Ryuu smiled brightly at the idea and quickly replied, _Hell yeah! I'll be there!_ before pocketing his phone and continuing his way. He and Midoriya had become pretty good friends over the last few days, and they spent quite a bit of time together. Being next door to each other, he wanted to get the know the kid more and Midoriya was a good guy. Ryuu could respect someone who worked so hard and had the ideals of a true hero. Ryuu could also tell that the green-headed boy had gone through quite a bit in his life, and while he couldn't exactly figure out what it was, he knew that it had helped him become the strong-willed and capable guy he was today. And you know, seeing him get all nervous around everyone all the time was kinda funny. As Izuku's new friend, of course, Ryuu saw it as his responsibility to help the class cinnamon roll to overcome his damn shyness…and maybe get him to act on his totally obvious feelings for Uraraka eventually.

Honestly, Ryuu was happy with how things were going so far. It had only been a couple of days, but he got along well with pretty much all his classmates. Well…most of his classmates anyway…His conversation with a certain onyx-haired girl in his class echoed in his head. He was definitely still upset about it, but was he going too far in how he was dealing with her? Or was he justified, and she had it coming after what had happened? He quickly shook himself of these thoughts as he arrived in the lobby of the dorm. He would not be able to think about this rationally if he was still as annoyed as he was. Returning to the sweet escape of his tunes bobbing his head to the beat, Ryuu funkily strutted his way over to the kitchen to make himself some dinner so that he could spend his evening watching the game.

"Hmm, what do I want to eat…" Ryuu said to himself as his eyes roamed over the contents of the large fridge, "Decisions…"

* * *

"…Decisions. I just don't know what to do next. I have never been put in such a situation before, and it very much goes without saying that I am treading on thin ice. What say the rest of you?"

Momo and the rest of the girls of 1-A, minus Ochako, were sitting in a circle on Momo's enormous canopy bed having a meeting about the black-haired beauty's troubles.

The rest of the girls looked around at one each other, not sure about who to speak first. Finally deciding, Ashido began.

"I'm not sure Yao-Momo. Ryuu-kun doesn't seem super pissed anymore, but who knows? He's a super nice guy though so fingers crossed, right?"

"Yeah! Ryuu-kun is super sweet! He helped me with my homework yesterday and even made me brownies!" Toru beamed, waving her arms excitedly.

Tsuyu looked at her invisible classmate before inputting herself, "Ryuu-chan seems to get along with everyone in the class but Momo-chan. He even seems to get along with Bakugo, which is very impressive, to say the least, kero." Tsuyu gave a sideways glance over to Momo who now had a depressed rain cloud above her head.

"Does he talk to you now at least?" Jiro asked while patting Momo on the back to try and comfort her. Momo's mood softened a bit and she raised her head with a weak grin.

"Hai, Ryuu has stopped ignoring me completely. He still does not seem very happy that I am talking to him, but he replies at least. That is progress, no?" She asked hopefully. None of the other girls had the heart to tell her anything but yes, so they all nodded slowly, hoping that Momo would not slip back into her sadness.

"Don't give up." The girls said meekly in unison, giving the creation-quirk user a thumb's up.

"You are right! I will not give up! I am feeling better now, would you all like to join me downstairs and we can enjoy a nice meal together!" The rest of the girls agreed and they all left Momo's room.

* * *

Ryuu just got done fixing himself a large helping of chow mien noodles and plopped himself down in a seat by the kitchen island to enjoy his meal. As he was about to dig in, he heard the elevator door open and leaned back in his chair to see all the girls of 1-A except for Ochako making their way towards the kitchen. He sighed tiredly, but he had been there first and had a big plate of noodles to enjoy so there was no way in hell he was moving. He happily greeted all the girls and when Momo came up to him, his face shifted into a neutral expression. "Momo." He stated.

"H-H-Hello, Ryuu. How are you doing?" Momo asked nervously. Ryuu's cold gaze directed at her never failed to spark her anxiety to a certain degree, and even though his expressions towards her softened quite a bit, she still found herself growing antsy around him.

The boy shrugged, "Could be worse. You need something?"

"Actually…the girls and I decided to come down and have a meal together if you didn't mind," Momo replied. The rest of the girls were watching the scene with slight awkwardness but did not want to get involved right now.

Ryuu merely shrugged, "I can't stop you. You live here too. If you guys want, there are noodles on the stove. I made plenty so help yourselves." He said as he continued slurping on his own helping of chow mien.

The girls cheered and ran to the stove to get their helpings of food, while Momo smiled warmly at Ryuu. She felt a little better at the gesture and saw the opportunity in front of her.

"Ryuu…would it be alright if… we spoke privately after this?" Momo asked nervously with her hands folded in front of her, looking Ryuu in the eye. She did not see any sort of reaction initially, but after a moment he sighed. "Backyard at midnight." He simply stated before bringing his now empty dish to the sink to wash, then walking off towards the elevators. Momo watched him the whole time with a thoughtful/determined expression on her face, oblivious to the rest of her friends in a frenzy over Ryuu's delicious cooking.


	3. Redemption

**A/N: Hello, again friends! Here is the next chapter for you guys. I have been staying ahead by a decent pace but exams are just around the corner in a few weeks so there could be a few hiccups in the next lil bit. Sorry in advance for that, haha. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter and please review and lemme know what you think!**

* * *

Being the prestigious and well-funded institution that it was, UA's _Heights Alliance_ dorms boasted many kinds of amenities designed to provide both utility and comfort for its student residents. One of these many amenities included a beautiful garden located behind each dorm for students to unwind and relax surrounded by various flora.

Momo shivered slightly in the chilly nighttime air as she made her way through the garden to meet Ryuu. She wrapped her red silk robe more tightly around her body to combat the cold and carried her slipper-clad feet towards the figure silhouetted in the moonlight that she presumed to be Ryuu.

Sitting down next to him by the patch of tulips, Momo observed the Aura-quirk user in silence for a few moments as he stared up at the night sky. He seemed to be deep in thought, and Momo was unsure if he even noticed he was there. That was immediately squashed as he turned to look at her without warning. Either she was not as quiet as she thought she had been, or he simply had a strong innate sense of his surroundings. Momo cleared her throat to signify that she was prepared to speak and waited for him to turn his gaze to her before she began.

"Hello, Ryuu-san. I am very grateful that you agreed to meet with me to talk." Momo said with a small smile.

Ryuu did not blink as he stared at the girl before crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes slightly, "Let's not beat around the bush, okay? What do you have to say to me?" he bluntly stated. Momo winced slightly at the matter-of-fact way he spoke, but his words did not carry the same sense malice as before, so she steeled her nerves and pressed on.

"Ryuu-san…I am aware of how ignorant and rude I was on the day we met, and I come to you now to beg for your forgiveness." Momo got on her knees and bowed to the cold ground before Ryuu, "Please believe that I spoke without thinking and do not believe you to be inferior in any way based on the circumstances of your life. In fact, after seeing your academic and practical abilities, I have the utmost confidence that you have the promise to become an incredible hero once we leave UA High and become professionals. I promise you that I will never judge anyone before I can know them personally first. Please forgive me, Ryuu-san." Momo's eyes were clenched shut as she remained bowed before Ryuu, waiting for his answer, teeth chattering slightly at being on the cold ground.

Hiroto sighed, "Momo, stand up." He sternly said.

Momo flinched and slowly rose to her feet, trying her best not to let her expression falter or let tears fall from her feline shaped eyes. "I-I understand if you don't want to forgive me, I─" She was interrupted with a finger over her lips and looked up to see Ryuu staring right at her. Momo's eyes widened when she investigated his and saw none of the malice that she had seen for most of the week. Instead, she saw hints of the genuine kindness and warmth that she had gotten lost in when they first met. Her heart started beating more and more rapidly as she studied his eyes and enjoyed the feel of his soft yet calloused fingers over her lips. She whimpered when he retracted his hand but grew attentive when he began speaking.

"Look, Momo…I have some things that I wanna say, so let me get it all out before you say anything else, aight?" Getting a nod as a reply, he pressed on, "I had to deal with so much shit tryin' to keep me down every day of my goddamned life, and yet against all odds, I made it to where I am now. I did it through hard work, determination, and the support of loved ones for me to go out there and take what I want in this world. Since I was a little kid, I've had people say that people like me were not meant for certain things, that people like me didn't belong in certain places or positions, that we were inferior because of circumstances that we didn't get to choose and had no power to change. I've grown up around shit that grown ass men and women wouldn't want to see in their worst nightmares. Everything that I am. Everything that I have become and can become in the future…that was forged with my blood, sweat and tears. So, coming to UA and being automatically assumed to be less capable because of where I came from really pissed me off…

With that being said, I know that you're genuinely sorry about what you said and implied, and pretty much everyone else in the class tried their best in vouching for you to get me to see you in a better light and forgive you. You spoke without thinking, we are all human and could make a mistake like that. I also sense that you got some honour, so I expect you to keep your word and not judge nobody else before you got a chance to know them as people. And I guess I wouldn't be much of a hero if I couldn't be willing to give people chances to prove themselves as good. But on the flip side of that, it is your responsibility to prove to me that you understand your wrongdoings and have moved past them. I even have an idea of how you can do that. But we can worry about that later. So… I'm willing to let things go and we can have a fresh start, how's that sound?" Ryuu finished with a slight smirk, extending his hand out to the creation-quirk user.

Momo stood speechless for a moment as she took in everything that had just been said to her. After a few moments, a sincere smile formed on her face as she enthusiastically shook Ryuu's hand. "Thank you so much. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that I have proven myself to you. You will not regret it…umm…would you be opposed to it if I called you Ryuu-kun again?" She asked hopefully, giving the boy her patented puppy dog eyes for good measure.

Ryuu chuckled lightly and crossed his arms over his chest. "I never said you had to stop calling me that…you just assumed so." He said amusedly. "Now, it's pretty late and rest is important, so we should probably get to sleep. You got quite a bit ahead of you in the next little while. Goodnight, Momo-chan." Ryuu waved before walking back inside and out of sight.

Momo stood still watching Ryuu's back as he retired for the night. She held her hands over her chest and could not suppress a beautiful smile from staying plastered on her face, "Goodnight, Ryuu-kun…" she whispered softly before going back inside herself and up to her room, quickly succumbing to the growing fatigue that overcame her. Momo hadn't slept so peacefully for as long as she could remember.

* * *

As the mid-morning sun shone high in the sky over 1-A's dorm building, a few stray rays of light trickled through the blinds of Momo's room and disturbed her from her peaceful slumber. The vice-rep of 1-A slowly stirred and sat up in her bed, letting her long and silky black hair fall loosely down her back and shoulders. She rubbed the grogginess out of her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, revelling in the pops and cracks of her tense joints. Momo turned to look at the clock and saw that it was a little past eleven. "Hmm, that's odd. I don't usually wake up any later than 9:30, even on the weekend." She thought back, and if she was honest, it made sense that she would oversleep. For most of the week, she had been plagued with her problems with Ryuu and did not get as much sleep as she usually did. In addition, the events of last night replayed in her mind and brought an extreme warmth to her being that she attributed to the amazing night's sleep that she had. Deciding that she had lazed about enough, Momo swung her legs over the edge of her massive bed and went to sit at her vanity. The creation-quirk user began combing out her hair and gave her reflection a warm smile. She honestly felt so refreshed now that she and Ryuu had a clean slate with each other and was determined to keep their relationship amicable. Satisfied with her work, Momo gave herself another once-over in the mirror before heading into the bathroom to begin preparing for the day.

* * *

Making her way out of the elevator in a pair of dark red pajama bottoms and a black tank top, with her hair tied back in a loose bun, Momo was immediately hit with the smell of breakfast. Heading towards the kitchen, she rounded the corner and saw Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari enjoying their own stacks of pancakes.

"Good morning," Momo greeted with a smile as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down next to Mina. The pink-skinned girl smiled brightly at her, "Hiya, Yaomomo! You sure woke up late today! I even woke up earlier than you did…But I guess I woke up for pancakes, so…" She trailed off before taking another generous bite of her breakfast, sighing in contentment as she tasted the fluffy cakes in her mouth.

"Yeah, you're usually up pretty early on Saturdays, Yaomomo. What gives?" Asked Kaminari from across the table from Mina. Kirishima stopped his eating now also curious as to why Momo was up so late in the morning.

Momo thought for a moment, but ultimately decided to not tell her two male classmates about her personal troubles. She knew Kirishima was aware about the ordeal and by extension it was likely that Kaminari did as well, so it was probably better for everyone if she did not bring it up again now. "Oh, I'm not sure exactly, but I feel in good health so I'm sure it is just a rare occasion." Momo put on the most reassuring smile that she could muster in hopes that neither spiky-haired boy would press any further.

"Hmm true. That kinda stuff happens to me sometimes too." Kaminari said, getting a nod of agreement from Kirishima. The two boys finished their pancakes and said goodbye to the girls before going off to do their own things for the day, leaving Momo alone with Mina who put on a knowing smirk as soon as it was just the two of them.

"You're sure in a good mood this morning. Something happen yesterday with Ryuu-kun?" Mina wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

Momo stared at the water bottle in her hands with a small smile. "I would say that we have come to more friendly terms. Last night…we had a conversation, and he accepted my apology and said that we would be able to wash our slate clean. I am very happy about it, although…He said he has an idea of how I can truly prove myself and earn his forgiveness. I am not exactly sure what it will entail, but I will do whatever it takes."

Mina pondered this for a moment, with her fork hanging from her mouth, "Hmmm…Wonder what he could be thinking. Well, whatever it is it can't be too bad right?" She added with a shrug.

Momo nodded, "I would think not. He does not seem the type to come up with anything heinous or inappropriate. I'm sure whatever Ryuu-kun has in mind will be reasonable."

"I'd like to think it's reasonable."

Both girls turned around to see the boy they were discussing leaning on the door frame with a smile. From the looks of it, he was already up and ready for the day, dressed in a pair of baggy dark blue jeans and an olive pullover hoodie. He walked over to the kitchen and pulled a can of soda out of the refrigerator. Popping the tab open, he took a healthy sip before eyeing his two classmates. "Morning, you two. I interrupting?"

Mina shook her head, "Of course not, Ryuu-kun!" she beamed before coming around to his side of the table and slinging her arms over his back. The horned girl gave Momo a sly grin from across the table as she pressed her chest into Ryuu from behind as she nuzzled her cheek against his. "I always have fun hanging out with you~".

Ryuu seemed to be unaffected by Mina's teasing and merely sat there with an amused expression. Across from them however, Momo was blushing and sputtering in embarrassment. "M-M-Mina-chan! Please refrain from jumping onto our classmates in such a manner!" She would not voice how jealous she felt seeing Mina all over Ryuu, nor did she fully understand why she was so jealous in the first place but pulling the good old responsible student card would hopefully work to stop what was happening.

Mina giggled as she hopped off her male classmate's back. "I'm just joking around, Yaomomo. And besides…Ryuu-kun wasn't complaining, were you?"

Ryuu took another sip from his drink and shrugged nonchalantly, "Who would mind being hugged by a cute girl like that?".

Mina giggled into her hand seeing Momo's slight blush and pout at Ryuu saying such a thing so casually. "You got me there. Anyway, me and Toru-chan are going the mall, so see ya later!" she waved at the two as she exited the kitchen.

Now alone with Ryuu, Momo figured it would be as good a time as any to voice her curiosity. "Ryuu-kun, I am quite curious. What exactly did you have in mind for me to properly make up for my mistake so that we can fully be past it?"

The dark-haired boy put his can of soda down and looked at Momo, "Best way to understand something you know nothin' about is to throw yourself right into it, least in my book. So, I hope you ain't got no plans today, Momo-chan. We gonna go pay my old neighbourhood a visit."

Momo stared at Ryuu blankly. It took a few moments for what he said to process in her mind... "Eh?" She eloquently replied, still staring somewhat dumbly at the boy in front of her. "You and I…Are going to go to your old neighbourhood?"

Dowing the last of his drink, Ryuu let out a satisfied sigh before standing up, "Yup. Way I see it, for you to truly understand me and the way I am, you should see where I grew up. So, you and I are going to take a little trip back to my roots. Unless…You aren't up for it?"

"N-N-No... I accept your proposal. I would be happy to go with you to visit your childhood home. Last night I truly meant it when I said I would do whatever is necessary to make things right. I would not be able to call myself a hero if I went back on my word or if I did not put in a strong effort to right my wrongs." Momo said with a determined look in her face.

"Cool." He smiled in return. "Go ahead and do whatever you gotta do to get ready for the day, I'll meet you out front in 2 hours."

* * *

Yaoyorozu Momo prided herself in her talents in analyzing situations and being able to make rational decisions in short periods of time. Under most circumstances, this would be transferable to most, if not all facets of everyday life.

Therefore, the usually level-headed girl was somewhat taken aback about how unsure about so many things she currently was.

Laid out on her enormous bed were countless tops, pants, skirts, dresses, and the like. How in the world was she supposed to dress to go visit Ryuu's hometown in Kabukicho? This was surely considered a casual affair, but how casual should she dress as to not stand out too much. But she still would want to stand out a little bit and look attractive enough so Ryuu would pay her more attention. Momo pinched the bridge of her nose and huffed in frustration. Why was this so difficult for her to decide? Sometimes, Momo cursed certain aspects of being a female. All her will-be companion was wearing was a hoodie and a pair of jeans and somehow looked incredibly stylish but casual at the same time! It just was not fair.

Pondering over her options for the umpteenth time, Momo sighed. She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. She still had about an hour to get ready before she needed to meet Ryuu downstairs. A decent amount of time but with the way things seemed to be going, it would be Monday before she could decide on what to wear.

Momo shook herself back to reality. Okay, she was one of the top students at the premier hero school in the country. She was a capable hero-in-the-making who was on her way to a successful professional career. She was Yaoyorozu Gosh Darn Momo! She could do this. She could find the perfect outfit. She could do this…

* * *

Sitting on the steps outside of 1-A's dorm building, Ryuu had his head back looking up at the clear blue sky as he waited for Momo to meet him. It was always easy for him to get lost in his thoughts staring up at the endless expanse of cerulean and pretty much shut the rest of the world out.

Momo… If he was honest, he was still unsure about what to make of that girl. He meant it when he said that he wanted to start fresh, and he could tell she felt very guilty for what had happened. Not to mention how much some of his other classmates tried to talk her up. From what Ryuu could tell, she was a good person. And even the best of people can make bad mistakes, he knew that first hand. But, he grew up in an environment where people need to take responsibility for their actions. So, this trip was Momo's chance to honestly prove herself. If she could get through the day in Kabu with no issues, then it could all be smooth sailing. If not… Well, Ryuu hoped it wouldn't go down like that. He wanted to be friends with her, so he was betting on things going well today.

Checking his phone, he saw it was just about time. He considered sending a message to Momo to make sure, but that idea went out the window when he heard the front door open and a voice calling his name.

"Hello, Ryuu-kun. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Momo said as she approached the boy. She was wearing a light pink pleated blouse and a pair of form-fitting blue jeans. Ryuu leaned his head backwards on the steps and got glimpse of her black Chelsea boots making strides towards him.

He got to his feet, straightening his hoodie and gave Momo a once-over. "Nah, don't worry about it, I wasn't waiting long. If we leave now, we can get to the station in time to catch the next train. C'mon. Kabukicho awaits." Ryuu dug his hands into his pockets and began walking down the stairs. Pausing for a moment, he looked over his shoulder, "You like nice by the way." He said before jerking his head for her to follow him.

Momo hurried down the steps after Ryuu, trying her best to suppress the blush forming on her face. She had a shy grin gracing her beautiful face as she fell in stride with her companion. The few words he uttered somehow eased her stress quite a tad, and she was very happy that he liked her choice of clothing. Beaming inwardly, she walked with Ryuu to the station in comfortable silence. Going to Kabukicho didn't seem like it would be so bad, after all.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two on their way towards the train station, a pair of cold eyes were locked on them before they left the school grounds. This uninvited spectator's gaze could only be described as one of jealousy and bitterness at watching the two go off to spend their day together.

"Why them? What do they have that I don't?" Gritting their teeth in anger, they tightened their grip on the balcony railing, unconsciously activating their quirk, leaving the metal bar completely melted before storming out of sight.


	4. Favourite Song

**A/N: Hello again everyone! Chapter 4 is up and ready for the world to see. It's a bit shorter than usual but the content within is part of the reason. As always, please comment and let me know what you think, good or bad! My exams start next week and I have been a hermit for the past who knows how long. Pray for ya boi. Till next time!**

* * *

The hustle and bustle in and around Musutafu Station seemed to be present no matter what time of day it was. One could hardly stand still without being engulfed by a sea characters of all kinds, hurrying their way in and out of the station to wherever they were heading to.

Luckily for Momo, she had grown accustomed to making her way through the constant crowds at the train station, so she and Ryuusei had gotten onto the westbound train with relative ease. The pair of teens expertly weaved their way through the moderately filled cars until they found two empty seats across from each other at the back of the train.

It became apparent to Momo very quickly that she may have been more ill-prepared to have casual conversation with Ryuu than she had initially thought. She was unsure if the conversation that started this whole issue in the first place was weighing in the back of her mind, or if she was just nervous about spending the day alone with her totally-not-crush. Either way, it made for an awkwardly silent ride, for her at least. As the train screeched down the tracks towards their destination, Momo spent most of her time staring nervously at her hands folded in her lap, occasionally shooting a glance up at the boy across from her, who was peacefully looking out the window with one earbud in.

Within Momo's mind, an intense struggle was taking place. One part of her was too nervous to say anything, not wanting to bother his seemingly peaceful state or even worse, terrified of saying something that made her look bad again. The other part of her could not stand the awkward silence between herself and the boy across from her. This part was aware of how good of an opportunity this was to get to know Ryuu better before they got to Kabukicho. Eventually, this side prevailed over the other and Momo managed to force out a sentence.

"Ryuu-kun..." Said boy turned his head to meet her eyes and looked on expectantly, "…" Momo panicked in her mind. 'What should I say?! I had not considered what exactly I would say to him when I finally decided to break the silence that had befallen us. Think, Momo! You are a verbose, friendly, charismatic young woman who can have a conversation with anyone she pleases!' After what seemed like an eternity but was only about a second, the gears in Momo's mind clicked and she was ready. "W-What are you listening to?" Totally casual, totally normal conversation.

"Hmm? Oh, it's this rap group called Migos." He replied. So far, so good.

Momo tilted her head thoughtfully, "Migos? What an intriguing name for a group of musicians."

Ryuu chuckled, "Yeah I guess so. A lot of rappers have some unique or weird names. Some have some sort of symbolism to them, some of them just sound cool to the artists I guess. I listen to a ton of music, some people get kinda thrown off by it. I probably have like maybe close to a thousand tracks on my phone. I pretty much am a hoarder at this point, haha." Momo made a mental note in her mind. 'Ryuu-kun loves music very much and is very passionate about it. It is one of his largest interests, it seems.' Ryuu shifted up in his seat and leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his thighs. "What kind of music do you like, Momo-chan?"

Momo had an embarrassed grin on her face, "Actually, I do not listen to much music, so I don't really care for any sort of music specifically." She was entirely unprepared for the adorable look that appeared on Ryuu's face as he grew extremely thoughtful. Her cheeks flared up with a shade of pink as he suddenly got out of his seat from across from her and plopped down in the empty seat to her immediate left.

"Momo-chan, this is a very serious situation! Music is the ultimate form of expression. It can stir up complex emotions, give you something abstract to think about, reflect social issues plaguing the world, the possibilities are endless! Music is a huge part of my life and I'm taking it upon myself to open up your ears to the world." Before she could protest in any way, she saw Ryuu pull his phone out his pocket and scroll through what seemed to be an endless database of songs, somehow navigating his way through the mess of characters and lists as if it were second nature.

"Okay, I'm not sure if you'll like the kind of rap music I like. It's probably too vulgar and stuff but I love a ton of different kinds of music, and I got an idea of some you are just gonna love." Ryuu was showing an uncharacteristic giddy side that Momo had not seen before, around any of their classmates. He was usually very cool and different than what she saw now. She couldn't help her lips from upturning at the sight of his obvious excitement.

"Okay, here we go." He held out one of his earbuds to her. "Just close your eyes, let the sound consume you. The only thing you wanna be thinking of is whatever comes from the music. Let it take control and take you on a journey. It sounds kinda weird but just trust me. Okay?" Tentatively nodding, Momo took the bud from Ryuu and fastened it into her ear. She did as she was told and closed her eyes, clearing her mind, exhaling deeply and waiting for the sound to come.

[ _Stay_ By Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko]

 _All along it was a fever_

 _A cold sweat, hot-headed believer_

 _I threw my hands in the air, said show me something_

 _He said, "If you dare come a little closer"_

 _Round and around and around and around we go_

 _Oh now tell me now tell me now you know_

Momo was immediately taken by the gorgeous piano playing that led the song, feeling her heart rate quicken a tad. The raw emotion emanating from it practically assaulted her mind and almost overwhelmed her senses. Then she heard it. A voice, one of pure passion. The soothing sound of her voice threw Momo for a loop. She felt her mind being ejected from her physical state. She was floating, surrounded nothing but the wonderful melody painting a masterpiece of an image in her mind.

 _Not really sure how to feel about it_

 _Something in the way you move_

 _Makes me feel like I can't live without you_

 _And it takes me all the way_

 _I want you to stay_

She felt an intense warmth growing from the pit of her stomach, spreading all throughout her system. It was if she were engulfed in a sea of comfort and fuzziness. As Momo took in the words being sung to her, a vivid picture began taking shape in her mind. She felt more refreshed and invigorated than she ever had before. A hand intertwined with hers in the most intimate of fashions, connecting the hearts and souls of the owners of the appendages. A soft touch, a loving caress that showcased an infinitely strong affection that was all-consuming. Minds, bodies and souls, intertwined as one in absolute and utter harmony. She could see something…or someone…waiting for her. Arms outstretched, waiting for her to take the leap and grab onto what she wanted. What she yearned for deep in her heart. Her heart clenched, chest constricting in what could only be described as a heavenly vice. She could hear it in the back of her mind. A voice, clearly distinguishable from the duet of singers serenading her, calling for her. It was fuzzy at first, almost sounding faded and distant. That voice grew, beginning to drown out the original two, growing more and more. Eventually the two singers' voices died out and all that could be heard was the third voice, trying to reach her. It was all she could hear now, as clear as day.

"-mo-chan? Hello? Earth to Yaoyorozu! You still there?" She felt a slight jolt startle her out of her daze. Slowly opening her eyes, Momo looked to her side to see Ryuu smiling at her proudly, "Pretty great huh?"

All Momo could see was his face. His features burned into her memory down to every last detail. His spiky onyx hair. His shining hazel eyes. The way the muscles in his defined jaw tensed and tightened as he moved his lips. Everything about him, framed perfectly in her vision. It took a moment for Momo to fall from her high and her mind finally cleared up.

"R-Ryuu-kun, that was absolutely amazing…" Momo said wistfully with her hands unconsciously rising to clutch over her still-racing heart. "I had no idea that such raw emotion and passion could be conveyed through music like that…It was…" She had no words to adequately describe what she had just experienced.

Still with the proud smile on his face, Ryuu nodded vigorously, "Yup! I know exactly what you mean. Music…It can take you to places you could never even fathom on your own. It can teach you things that you never would have considered in your wildest dreams. The effects it can have on a person truly are endless."

He shone like a star uttering those words. Momo felt it again, that reassuring warmth overloading her system. He was the key, wasn't he? Aside from the fact that the art itself radiated such a feeling, it was him who was the catalyst for the intense array of emotions that she was experiencing now.

The world seemed to liven up around Momo. It was almost if everything around her had previously been a dull black and white, now exploding with colour and vibrancy. It was him who did this to her right? That put this strain on her heart and made her see an entirely different world than what he had previously thought to have seen completely. She wasn't entirely sure about any of it, too drenched in emotion to think particularly concisely. The only thing she could say for certain and confirm within her own mind...

She would never, ever forget this moment.

* * *

The remainder of the train ride felt like an entirely different state of being for Momo as Ryuu took her on a crash course of a plethora of music and artists. She concluded very quickly that she was not a huge fan of some of the rap music that Ryuu seemed to enjoy so much, but of course, she respected his tastes as something that made him, him. Being a romantic at heart and always moved by love stories since she was a child, it wasn't hard for the dark-haired beauty to gravitate towards songs of the romantic variety. She found that the pure feeling in their voices as they sang gave her a bubbly feeling in the pit of her tummy that made her almost squirm in happiness.

And Ryuu did not disappoint in satiating her new-found thirst, creating a playlist with many of the songs she found to enjoy and countless more that he thought she might like as well. It brought a slight tinge to her cheeks as she watched him save it as _Momo-chan's Mega Playlist_ and get the music onto her phone as well. He made her promise to listen to as much as possible and find her own music that spoke to her, she happily agreed to it.

Momo was able to learn quite a bit about his personal interests and was able to share many of hers in return. At first, it seemed like they shared almost nothing in common, which dampened Momo's mood slightly. However, that feeling was quickly erased as Ryuu pointed out that there was nothing impossible about one of them finding one of the other's hobbies interesting and beginning to enjoy it themselves. They had just undergone a prime example of that, after all. Jokes were thrown around that Momo could become a massive sneakerhead like Ryuu, or that Ryuu could take a liking for tea-drinking, causing the pair to fall into a fit of laughter for several enjoyable minutes.

Collecting her bearings and catching her breath from her girlish giggles, Momo took a moment to fully appreciate how things felt. It was as if the empty train car that the two were sitting in was isolated in space and time. Momo never once thought about anything other than what she and Ryuu were talking about, what they were doing, or how happy she felt. It already felt like it was one of the best days that she could remember having, being able to have an unhindered gabfest with someone that she admired so much. In this moment, she didn't feel like Yaoyorozu Momo, heiress to the massive Yaoyorozu corporation, future hero and elite student at the prestigious UA High. No, right now, she just felt like Momo-chan, a teenage girl who wanted to do teenage girl things, listen to music, talk to a cute boy, and live in the moment without a care in the world except for what was making her feel so giddy and tingly inside. Her insecurities, her self-doubts that, while admittedly diminishing over her time and experiences at UA, usually always crept around at the back of her mind. No matter what happened, she could never fully escape the weight of her troubles pushing down on her. That was, before this moment that that is.

Momo could barely fathom it once she really began thinking about it. This boy…this enigma…suddenly appearing in her life no more than a week ago…immediately having an enormous effect on her and many of the things around her. His innate ability to instantly befriend everyone in his class, even somehow getting snippets of confidence out of the usually nervous-wreck Midoriya and relatively friendly interactions from the human-tantrum Bakugo. Just how was it possible? And how he had somehow wedged himself into the centre of her universe…It was honestly beyond her. She hadn't given it much thought until this moment, but once she did it became as clear as day that almost all her thoughts for the past week involved him. Her high first opinion of him, her disastrous words at lunch on that first day, how she was going to get him to forgive her, everything that happened so far on the train. It was baffling for Momo to think about how focused she had been on one person without even noticing it before.

But that was not to say that she regretted it in any way. Well sure she regretted _that_ certain interaction, but you get the idea. Even just now, he had found a way to open her eyes up to view the world around her through an entirely different scope full of so much more brightness and emotions by exposing her to one of his most precious interests. Momo had never developed romantic feelings for anyone before, not to her knowledge at least, so all she could really go off of was the countless romance novels and films that she ingested in her adolescence up to this point. She still could not directly pinpoint exactly how she felt, but she knew there were not ones of a purely platonic nature. The tune and lyrics of the piece Ryuu showed her still resonated clearly in her mind. Whatever was to happen after they got off the train, and moving forward, Momo could live with it so long as to some level, things could stay like they were right now. The inaudible sounds of their mutual enjoyment of each other, of their genuine grins and natural new-found chemistry. That was by far her favourite song.

 _I want you to stay_

 _Stay_

 _I want you to stay_


	5. Homecoming

**A/N: Hello guys next chapter is up and ready! Exams are really kicking my ass but dw I will keep updating this story cause |I am having too much fun writing it. Lemme know what you guys think and enjoy as always! See you next week!**

* * *

Momo took a few deep breaths to calm her building nerves. The train screeched to a safe stop a few minutes after the conductor announced that they would be arriving at the last station just outside of Kabukicho. She really didn't know what to expect from this trip if she was honest with herself. She spent the entire train ride enjoying herself and Ryuu's company but stepping out of the station and onto the street, she sobered up and began to grow anxious once more.

Making their way through the streets towards Ryuu's, Momo took in her surroundings and was taken aback to how drastically everything began to change. Buildings and houses degraded in quality, small businesses beginning to pop up on virtually every strip they walked through. The noises around them, while still carried a degree of hustle and bustle, seemed to differ in a way that Momo could not put her finger on.

Momo also could not help but notice the looks she was receiving from people that she and Ryuu passed by on the street. She was not a narcissist in any way, but she was secure about her physical beauty, thus somewhat accustomed to some looks she received from men. But many of these looks, they were not of that variety. They were looks of bitterness, of disgust, looks that animals would give on a predator encroaching on their territory. Momo stood out like a sore thumb, and it was easily to see that she was aware of it, visibly growing uncomfortable under their gazes. She walked a bit closer to Ryuu, hoping that his presence, seemingly inconspicuous, would help mask hers.

Noticing this, Ryuu turned to the girl and chuckled dryly, "Yup, you're gonna be dealing with that pretty much the whole time we're here. Don't beat yourself up about it, not really anything you could've done to keep this from happening. People around here pretty much all in the same boat, and they can kinda tell when someone is out of place or 'somewhere they shouldn't be'" He finished, making air quotes on the last few words.

Momo nodded tentatively but remained silent, opting to just keep walking on with Ryuu. Turning a corner, the passed by a schoolyard where several middle schoolers were gathered in a moderately sized group, circled around two boys that were busy knocking the snot out of each other. Being the person that she was, Momo instinctively ran into the yard to put a stop to the altercation.

"Excuse me, please stop fighting!" She reached the group of kids and they all paused, to look her in confusion and irritation. One of the boys fighting looked up at her with narrow eyes, not at all concerned about his swollen lip. "Who the fuck is you, lady? Mind ya damn business!" Several members of the mob shouted in agreement. "You ain't even from here, is ya? Wit' yo rich bitch lookin' ass, get the fuck outta here!"

Momo was stunned by the foul language coming from this boy's mouth. Blushing slightly at what was said to her, she gave them a stern look, "I'll have you know that I am a hero and I will not stand for you two to be acting in such a way. Now, please stop fighting and be on your way home."

The group of middle schoolers did not take these instructions well, growing angry and shouting profanities at the provisionally licensed hero. "Fuck you! You can't just show up here and stick your nose in our shit. You aren't a hero, give me a break! Where were heroes when my mom's house got robbed?! Where were heroes when my dad got busted for a bullshit firearm charge?! Heroes don't mean shit here, get that in your head." The other participant of the broken-up skirmish spat out.

Momo stood there with wide eyes, but before she could say anything in return or be verbally berated any further from the preteens, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Ryuu standing next to her with his eyes closed. He shook his head at her, "Let me talk to them." Ryuu walked past her and up to the group with an unimpressed gaze. "You little fucks wanna keep talkin' all that shit? So what is it, then? You some real tough motherfuckers, huh?"

Many of the middle schooler's eyes widened and they began trembling in fear. One of the boys fighting held his ground, however. "And who the hell are you, huh?"

The boy next to him shook in place as he stared up at Ryuu. "M-Matsuo-senpai? Shuu, shut the fuck up do you know who he is?!" Others seemed to react the same and shrunk in fear.

"It's Matsuo-senpai! What is he doing here?!"

"I thought he left for UA! We are so dead!"

Some of them ran away while others were too scared to move. The boy who dared to defy Ryuu, now identified as Shuu had a slightly less confident expression but glared him down nonetheless. "So what? He's just some sellout who left the hood behind. Out here fucking some princess bitch living the good life in the big city while still we here struggling. He looks like a mark, anyway. He─" Shuu was interrupted by his body being slammed into the ground and Ryuu kneeling over him, gripping his shirt tightly.

" **The fuck you say, you little shit?! Shut yo' bitch ass up before I beat yo' motherfuckin' ass! You don't know shit about me or what** _ **my**_ **struggles were. I made it out the hood, because ain't nobody shit staying here! You think I don't know how things go down around here? I was dealing with that shit before you knew how to fuckin' walk. You out here scrapping with each other for what? Is that keeping the lights on at your momma crib? Your family out here working all damn day to keep you alive, to make your life as easy as they can, so you can waste your time doing all this ghetto ass shit? Get some fucking sense!"**

Momo was in shock of Ryuu before her. His eyes were completely glowing bright blue, identical to the colour of his quirk, and his voice took an almost demonic undertone as he screamed at the quivering boy beneath him. Hearing and seeing Ryuu like this made the hairs on the back of Momo's neck stand on end. She could not stop the slight shaking in her knees and the beads of sweat rolling down her brow. 'W-What is this…How can Ryuu-kun emanate such raw power. It's overwhelming…It's as if I can feel his anger pushing down on my lungs…' It almost felt like an entirely different being was in front of her. 'This isn't Ryuu…'

" **You think I am happy about leaving my family in this place? I'm making sacrifices just like them. I was blessed with my quirk, and I need to use what I was given to get the means to making life better here. Not just for me, for everyone! You complain about struggling, about not having shit, so do something about it! Everyone pushes down people like us, so you can lay down and take it like a little bitch, doing nothing to better your situation but complain…or you can get off your ass and actually try to get somewhere!"**

"Ryuu-kun, please stop!" Momo pleaded, coming next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned at the contact and jerked her hand off him. She flinched at the action but remained quiet, not wanting to test the boy in his current state.

Ryuu let go of the now teary-eyed boy, and slowly stood up. He was slightly pale and panting but calmed his breathing and faced the rest of the group, where were looking on in absolute fear. The glow in his eyes faded and returned to its regular brown colour. "Take him and get the fuck outta here. Stay in school, do something with yourselves. Oh, and talking shit about me is one thing, but talk about my friends like that ever again and watch what happens." They nodded vigorously and dragged Shuu along as they sprinted away.

Ryuu turned his head to look at Momo, who now had an uncertain expression on her face. "I-I'm sorry about that. I lost control for a bit…" Momo was surprised, as this was the first time she had heard him stutter or sound anything but his usual confident self. "But you get the idea, right? People here, kids even…most of them don't look up to heroes. Heroes don't really come around here, and not many people in this area even have quirks. I guarantee you most of those kids just now were quirkless."

Deciding to leave the 'lost control' issue be in favour of addressing the other issue presented to her, Momo furrowed her brow in thought. "A-Are you serious? That many quirkless people all in one area…" Then it suddenly clicked in Momo's mind. Over 80% of the world's population had developed quirks. It was very rare for someone to be born without a quirk, and those that weren't were ostracized by society. Treated as a second, inferior class than the public of quirks. They must be grouped in areas of high poverty such as this because it essentially them being thrown away by the world. Heroes and the police must not have ever been very active in this area because…they didn't care. There was no use in their minds in consuming their time and resources on 'sub-humans'. There was no wonder that those kids hated heroes so much. Heroes had cast them aside along with the rest of the world, how could they hope for saviors when growing up in that sort of environment?

Ryuu could see the varying emotions coming and passing on Momo's face and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I can see you're starting to get it. It was pretty much the same thing when I was growing up too. No one really had any faith in heroes because all they ever saw from them was on TV. It seemed like some kinda fictional bullshit to them ya kn─OOF" The wind was knocked out of him as Momo tackled him in an embrace.

"R-Ryuu-kun…. That is *sniff* terrible! No one deserves to be treated that way!" She could not stop the flow of tears from her feline eyes, but she managed to pull back slightly and look up at Ryuu with a quivering lip. Despite her flaring emotions she managed a heartfelt smile, "You grew up like this and still want to be a hero and save all of the people around you. You really are amazing, aren't you?"

Ryuu met her smile with a playful smirk of his own, "I wouldn't go that far, heh. You know, you're alright Momo-chan." Momo blush slightly but her smile grew as she felt her pulse quicken, "But uh…you mind letting go of me? As nice as it feels to have you push yourself up against me, we should really be going. My moms can be pretty scary when she has to wait for long."

Momo's eyes widened as she realized what Ryuusei had just said and the position that she had just put them in. She shot backwards and spun around so that he would not see her insanely red face, thoroughly embarrassed by the situation. "R-R-Ryuu-kun, I'm sorry for being so forward! But please refrain from saying such inappropriate things." She had her hands rubbing her cheeks to try and tame her crimson blush, and she could swear she could feel steam coming from her ears. In her head, she was having a panic attack, 'I cannot believe I just threw myself at him! I suppose…It is a good thing that he didn't seem to mind it very much…' Ryuu's comment echoed in Momo's mind, 'H-H-He had to say that…I should be so embarrassed…but it made me happy that he finds me attractive…'

"Okay okay, sorry about that. But for real, come on. My mom is gonna beat my ass if we're late."

"O-Of course, lead the way, Ryuu-kun." Momo followed behind the boy out of the yard and back down the street towards his house, glad that he was ahead of her as to not see the shy grin and light crimson hue gracing her features.

* * *

The pair walked another five or so minutes until Ryuu led them down the street towards a cul-de-sac containing several small homes at the end of the block. As they made their way through, several others in the neighbourhood recognized Ryuu and enthusiastically greeted him. They also gave Momo friendly grins, friendlier than further out in the area, probably because she was with Ryuu and most likely appeared to be his friend. This felt somewhat foreign to the wealthy teen, as her street consisted of mostly large estates, fenced off from one another and very much isolated. Thinking about it, Momo couldn't even picture what any of her neighbours looked like, which was odd to compare to Ryuu speaking to his like old friends. For some reason, she also felt like this would not be the only disconnect between herself and Ryuu to become apparent to her.

* * *

"I'm home!"

Ryuu led Momo through the entrance to his childhood home, shutting the door behind them as Momo took a look around. The entryway led into a modestly sized living room, furnished with a large brown sofa facing a television sitting on the floor. The living room connected to an open kitchen, where a petite woman with jet black hair tied up in a loose ponytail was cooking on the stove. The woman turned around and immediately grinned from ear to ear as she set her chopsticks down and glomped Ryuu in a tight embrace.

"Ryuusei! It's so good to see you! I missed you so much, son! Have you been staying out of trouble? Eating healthy? Made enough friends?"

"Mom, relax, it's only been like a week since I've been at UA. Everything is going great. But I missed you too." He said, hugging his mother back and lifting her off her feet and twirling her around. The two laughed before Ryuu set her down and released her from his arms. "Mom, this is Momo-chan. She's a friend from school." He said, gesturing towards Momo, who until this point had been observing the tender moment between mother and son with a tender smile. She shook out of her daze at the call of her name and bowed towards Ryuu's mother.

"It is wonderful to meet you, Matsuo-san. My name is Yaoyorozu Momo. Thank you very much for allowing me into your home. I hope that I am not imposing in any way."

"Oh, stop with all that, honey! A friend of Ryuusei's is always welcome. And please, call me Ryoko."

Momo straightened herself and smiled warmly. Taking a moment to look over Ryoko, she immediately saw the resemblance between her and Ryuu. Ryoko was a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, with slight signs of aging beginning to show under her eyes. "Of course, Ryoko-san". Momo had to meet many of her parents' business partners on a regular basis, so she was used to staying composed around adults, though the fact that she was in Ryuu's home made her a tad bit nervous/excited.

Ryoko wasted no time in wrapping up Momo in a hug, which the girl awkwardly returned, before pulling back to arm's length and looking up at her. "You're absolutely gorgeous, Yaoyorozu-chan! And so well-mannered too! UA boys must be wrapped around your finger."

Momo blushed in embarrassment, "W-Well I would not go far as to say that." Glancing sideways over at Ryuu, who had an amused grin on his face, Momo sputtered and quickly tried to change the subject, "R-R-Ryoko-san, would you like some help in preparing dinner? I would be more than happy to help." She offered.

Ryoko waved the girl's offer off, "No-no-no, you're our guest. What kind of host would I be if I allowed you to help me with dinner? Please make yourself at home, here. Ryuusei, give her a tour of the place, show her your room or something. Dinner should be ready in a bit. Oh, Rei and Shin are in their rooms." The woman smiled at the teens before returning to the stove.

Ryuu shrugged, "Alright, Momo-chan guess we can go check out my room."

Momo nodded and followed Ryuu up the stairs, "Sure, I'd like that. Who are the people your mother mentioned earlier? Siblings?"

"Yeah, my little brother and sister." Ryuu replied. They made their way up the stairs and stopped at the first of 5 doors on that floor. Ryuu knocked on the door, and after getting a 'come in!' from a young girl's voice, he opened it to reveal a small bedroom clearly occupied by Ryuu's younger sister.

The girl, probably around 12 or 13, was sitting at her desk, doing her homework, and as soon as she turned around, Momo had to cover her ears at the shriek that left her mouth.

"Onii-chan!" the girl leapt from her seat and bounded into Ryuu's waiting arms and buried her face in his much larger chest.

Ryuu chuckled, "Hey there, Rei. You been good?"

Rei pulled back with a bright smile on her face, "Mhm! I did just like you said, Onii-chan! I helped mama do chores after I finished my homework. Mama even said soon I can do some of them all by myself!" The girl stopped her excited bouncing when she noticed Momo standing in the doorway. "Onii-chan who's that?"

Momo smiled at the girl. She was a carbon-copy of her mother, with slightly chubby cheeks and her dark hair tied up in twin pigtails. "Hi there, I'm Yaoyorozu Momo. It's wonderful to meet you, Rei-chan."

The preteen smiled up at Momo, "Nice to meet you too, Yaoyorozu-san! How come you're hanging out with dumb old Onii-chan?"

Both girls giggled at Ryuu's 'Hey!' before Rei turned to her brother, "Ne, did you see Shin yet? He is kinda sad…Better you go talk to him than I explain it."

Ryuu frowned but nodded nonetheless, "Hmm, aight. Sorry, Momo-chan, I'll just be a second." Ryuu said as he left the room to go talk to his younger brother, leaving his classmate alone with his sister.

"Ne, can you tell me about UA? I hear all these super amazing stories all the time!"

Momo found Rei's childlike excitement extremely adorable, "I'd be happy to!" she said as she sat down on Rei's bed and began telling her stories from her time at UA. From the 'logical ruse' of their first day to several shenanigans that took place at the dorms, Momo was having a blast talking to Rei, who was hanging on every word.

* * *

"Shin?" Ryuu peeked his head into his younger brother's room to see said boy sitting on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. Every few seconds, small blue sparks would fly off his body. He looked up at Ryuu in surprise, temporarily losing the downcast expression he was just wearing.

Ryuu walked over and sat down next to his brother, both boys silent for several moments. Finally, Ryuu sighed and rested his forearms on his knees, "It happened again didn't it?" Shin nodded without a word. Ryuu scratched the back of his neck and turned to face his younger sibling, "You know it wasn't your fault. You're only 10 years old, Shin. No one expects you to have full control over your quirk, that comes as you grow up. You'll get stronger, nothing can happen over night."

"What do you know?!" Shin suddenly shouted, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, "You've always been good at everything! You were always the strongest, the smartest, everyone knew you were gonna be a hero! All I do is mess up! I keep hurting people with my quirk instead of helping them! How…how am I supposed to protect Mama and Onee-chan while you're gone? Without papa…"

Ryuu sighed heavily and pulled Shin into a hug. "Shin…I can't give you all the answers to life. I don't know much off them either. I'm not as great as you'd think man. We all got things to overcome. But listen…I know how much you wanna help protect our family. When you have something precious to you that you need to get stronger for, you will find what it takes to push to that next level. You must believe in yourself…Be okay with making mistakes cause that's how you get better. When I got into UA, I was worried about the family at first...But I remembered you'd be the man of the house now, and I know you are gonna protect them and lots of other people! You promised to start a hero agency that would be better than mine after all. Dad would be proud of the man you're becoming" Shin chuckled through his sobs and wiped his tears with his sleeve.

"Dinner!"

Both brothers' heads perked up. Ryuu motioned for them to go downstairs to eat, and Shin slowly followed him, a small smile on his face.

Back in Rei's room, the two girls pulled their ears away from the wall and shared a look. Seemingly reading Momo's thoughts, Rei shook her head. "It's a long story, Ryuu will probably tell you if you ask."

* * *

The Matsuo family and Momo enjoyed a delicious meal together, laughing, talking and overall having a wonderful time with each other. Momo took a moment to appreciate the warm feeling that was being given off and the love that was abundantly clear among the members of Ryuu's family. She stopped for a moment, growing a bit upset at everything that was happening.

She'd never had dinner with her family like this. There was always a meeting to attend, a phone call to make, a deal to close. Momo spent more time with the servants at her estate than her own parent as far as she could remember. This was what a family was supposed to be, loving, caring and attentive of one another. Her eyes glistened slightly seeing the genuine grins on the faces of everyone else at the table, but she swallowed the lump in her throat. Ryuu and his family had been nothing but kind, trying their bests to include her almost as a member of the household, making jokes and getting her input on various conversations. Momo would enjoy this feeling as long as she could, the warmth of familial affection soaking into her body and bringing a sincere grin to her face. Ryoko began telling an embarrassing story about Ryuu when he was a child and lost his pants at the park, causing everyone at the table to burst into laughter. Momo was giggling uncontrollably, eyes closed in glee as she covered her mouth with one hand, clutching her ribs with the other.

This was the first time she was at Ryuu's house, but it felt more like a home to her than any place else.


End file.
